


you look like yourself, but you're somebody else

by LilacsAndLilies



Series: Tumblr Asks/Prompt Fill Drabbles [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Amnesiac Peter Parker, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Harley Keener as Iron Lad, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Temporary Amnesia, This is my first attempt at angst, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23303269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacsAndLilies/pseuds/LilacsAndLilies
Summary: Harley moved closer to Peter. “We were fighting some guy and something exploded near you. You were almost at the center of the explosion.”Peter scrunched up his face. Harley felt a sense of dread before he heard Peter say three little words that broke his heart into little pieces. “Who are you?”Written as a response to the prompt: "Who are you?"
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Tumblr Asks/Prompt Fill Drabbles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674778
Comments: 18
Kudos: 247





	you look like yourself, but you're somebody else

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: Bruce Banner is here but Endgame never happened.  
> Title from Somebody Else by Flora Cash

Harley didn't know how things had gone so wrong so fast. It was supposed to be a normal patrol, just Spider-Man and Iron Lad working the streets of New York. The next thing Harley knew, they were in a fight against someone who had used some type of blast gun to throw Peter down. Harley threw a quick look at his boyfriend. The bloody and bruised lump of red and blue fabric wasn’t moving and fear threatened to swallow Harley whole. Luckily, the guy they were fighting was in a similar situation. It took all of Harley’s control not to abandon the fight and run over to Peter. Harley shot down the man and told his AI to call the police before rushing over to his boyfriend.

“Peter.” He gently shook Peter, but he got no response. “Karen, vitals?”

“He is in critical condition. Get him to medical attention as fast as possible.”

Harley gingerly picked up Peter before flying them both to the tower and straight to the medical room. He stepped out of his suit and called Tony and Bruce down. The two men quickly came running in. “Harley what happened?”

“We- We were fighting someone and then he hit Peter with some weapon or something, I don’t know what happened. There- There was an explosion.” He turned to face Bruce, almost begging him. “Tell me he’s going to be ok.”

Bruce just gave him a worried look as he started to prep Peter. “I hope he will be. Now both of you need to leave.” He tried to shoo Tony and Harley out of the room as he started working on treating Peter’s wounds. 

Harley just shook his head. “I’m not leaving.” 

Tony grabbed his shoulders. “C’mon. We need to go.”

Harley tried to plant himself there, but instead he just broke down, reluctantly moving as Tony pushed him out of the room. He slumped into a chair nearby, tears forming in his eyes. “I should have done something. I was right there. I should have kept him safe.”

“Then you would be in that room and Peter would be out here crying about how it was his fault.” Tony looked Harley straight in the eye. “It’s not your fault. Both of you know the risks, you do it anyway. He knew this could happen. It’s not your job to take everything for him. Now come on, you were in the fight too. Got any wounds?”

Harley just shook his head. “I still should have done more.”

“You couldn’t have done more. Now let me see your wounds.” He grabbed a first aid kit from nearby and tried to treat Harley’s injuries.

Harley pulled away. “I’m fine. It’s Peter you should be worrying about.”

“Bruce is taking care of Peter. We can’t do anything else about that. But when he comes out of there if he sees you with all of these bruises, he’s going to yell at me.” Tony nudged Harley, trying to get him to smile.

Harley shook his head. “No. I’m fine. Just leave it.”

Tony just stared at Harley. “You need to take care of your injuries.”

“I don’t have any that matter.” Harley could feel the beginnings of tears in his eyes at the severity of Peter’s injuries.

“Kid.” Tony tried to get Harley to react, but he couldn’t. Instead he just pushed the kit into Harley’s hands. “At least do something about them eventually.”

Harley didn’t react to the kit. “I hope he’s ok.”

“Me too kid, me too.”

* * *

Eventually, once the waiting got to be too much to bear, Harley let Tony attend to his wounds. Still, it was several hours of silent waiting and many tears shed before Bruce finally opened the door. “He got hurt pretty bad Tony. He had a lot of burns from the explosion, and the impact left him with a serious concussion.”

“But is he going to be ok?” Harley got up, and started walking to the door.

“He’ll be fine physically. I won’t know if anything happened because of the concussion until he wakes up.” Bruce opened the door for Harley and he marched straight in. “He should be waking up any minute now. Hopefully I’ll get a better idea then.”

Tony followed after both of them into the room. Harley sat by Peter’s side, scanning over the boy. He had burns and bruises everywhere. Harley thought, if you took away the injuries, he almost looked like he was sleeping. He hoped it was as peaceful as sleeping.

They all sat there, waiting for a sign that Peter was ok. Soon enough they heard a shuffle. Harley leaned in as Peter slowly pulled himself up.

“Darlin’?” Harley tried to restrain himself. He didn’t want to scare Peter.

Peter looked around the room. He grew more tense and confused as he looked at Harley and Bruce, before relaxing at the sight of Tony. “Mr. Stark?”

Harley froze. Peter hadn’t called Tony ‘Mr. Stark’ in almost 2 years. Tony got up and moved closer to Peter. “Hey underoos, how are you feeling?”

Peter blinked his eyes, trying to wake up. “Everything hurts. What happened?”

Harley moved closer to Peter. “We were fighting some guy and something exploded near you. You were almost at the center of the explosion.”

Peter scrunched up his face. Harley felt a sense of dread before he heard Peter say three little words that broke his heart into little pieces. “Who are you?”

Harley heard Tony take a sharp breath. “I’m Harley. Your boyfriend.”

Peter jerked away, shaking his head. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Harley opened his mouth to speak, but Bruce gestured at him to stop. He got up and moved closer to Peter. “Hey Peter, What year is it?”

“It’s 2018.” Harley couldn’t believe this had happened. What if Peter never remembered him? It would be his fault and Peter would have the two best years of his life gone from his memory. Harley fell back into the chair and got lost in thought. They met in the summer of 2018. This Peter didn’t even know who he was. Harley wasn’t surprised at how much it hurt to think of a life where he never met Peter. That possibility suddenly seemed like a reality.

Bruce gave Harley a sympathetic look before turning to Peter. “I’m sorry to tell you, but it’s 2020. You just finished your senior year.”

Peter looked up at Tony. Tony just put an arm on Peter’s shoulder. “It’s true bud.”

Peter started to hyperventilate. “Is this a trick or something? There’s no way I would just forget two years.” Tony just shook his head, a sad look on his face. “Why can’t I remember? What happened to me?”

“C’mon, breathe buddy.” Tony tried to calm Peter down. Harley felt so helpless, unable to help his boyfriend who couldn’t even remember meeting him.

Eventually, Peter calmed down. Bruce looked over his checklist. “Well, everything seems to be in order here except the amnesia. It is common after traumatic events, so I wouldn’t get too worried yet.” He shot a look at Harley for that, and Harley finally let go of his breath. “It may take anywhere between a few hours and a few weeks for you to get your memory back Peter. Until then, just take it easy. You’re still healing from your injuries.”

Peter just nodded. “Thank you Dr…”

Bruce laughed. “Banner.”

Recognition lit up Peter’s face. “You’re Bruce Banner? The Bruce Banner? You look so different I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you. You’re like the coolest scientist ever. I wrote essays about you and everything. I loved your papers on the effects of radioactivity on molecular structure and its applications in biochemistry! I can’t believe you were taking care of me.”

Harley couldn’t help but smile at Peter’s rambling. Even without the last two years, he was still the same person, the same wonderful boy that Harley fell in love with and kept falling in love with every single day. His smile quickly faded as he remembered that Peter wouldn’t feel the same. 

Bruce just smiled at Peter. “You said almost the same thing the first time we met.”

“We’ve met before? Oh-” Peter dimmed. “Of course we did. I wish I could remember.” He sighed, and what was left of Harley’s heart broke even further at the sight of Peter looking so broken. 

“You should try to remember, but don’t strain yourself. It’ll come back in time. It might be in bits and pieces, or all at once, but you will get your memory back.” Bruce tried to comfort Peter.

Peter just nodded, before turning to Tony. “Where’s Aunt May?”

“May’s on the way home from her shift. You’ll see her as soon as she gets back. For now, let’s get you settled in your room.” Tony held out his hand to Peter, who gingerly grabbed it and got up. Together both of them walked out of the room.

Harley’s eyes trailed after Peter, watching as they left. He heard Bruce call his name. “You should go with them. He’ll remember faster if he interacts with things related to specific events. I said it would take up to a few weeks, but that’s in more serious cases where people lose over a decade’s worth of memory. It’s only two years and Peter’s resilient. He’ll bounce back from this in a few days. Just make sure you’re there to help him out with it.”

Harley looked at Bruce, who made a small gesture at the door. He slowly got up and walked over to the elevator. It had already dropped off Peter and Tony and had come back for him. He took the trip to start to think about what he could do to help Peter. What types of things would even help Peter with his memory? Maybe the lab? Or his room? He wanted to be there, to see if anything changed. But he didn’t know if he could bear to be so close to Peter and not be able to touch him, to look in his eyes and see no recognition. 

The elevator opened and Harley moved almost on autopilot to Peter’s room. He stood at the door a while, steadying himself, before slowly pushing it open. Inside he saw Tony and Peter sitting on the bed. Peter was looking around at all of the photos in the room. The door squeaked as Harley pushed it open, and Peter turned to look at the noise. He tensed and stood up, looking for an intruder, before realizing it was just Harley. He relaxed slightly, but Harley could still see the fight thrumming in his bones. “You’re- you’re Harley right?”

Harley just nodded. “That’s me.”

“You said you were my boyfriend?” He moved a little closer.

Harley couldn’t bring himself to say anything, couldn’t think of anything except how much it hurt to hear Peter say that word without all of the love and emotion behind it. He just gave Peter a sad smile. 

“I’m sorry. I wish I could remember you.” Peter sounded broken. “I wish I could stop hurting people like this, I wish I could just remember!” Peter almost screamed. 

Harley wanted to wrap Peter up in his arms and never let go. He wanted to help so badly, but how could he when his presence was just making it worse? Tony pulled Peter back and began to calm him down. Harley tried to look away, tried to focus on anything that wasn’t the fact that Peter was hurting and Harley couldn’t be there to comfort him.

Eventually, Peter looked up at Harley again. “So, boyfriend huh?” He tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Guess I hit the jackpot on that.”

Harley couldn’t help but smile. “No, I hit the jackpot.” Peter blushed.

Tony looked between the two, before slowly getting up. “I’ll leave both of you alone for a bit, maybe go update Pep and May on the situation.” He walked out of the door, leaving Peter and Harley alone in an awkward silence.

“Can I sit there?” Harley gestured at the place that Tony was only moments before.

Peter nodded, his eyes focused on Harley. They both sat there for some time, just taking each other in, one mourning what was no longer theirs, and the other trying to understand what never was.

“Tell me about it.” Peter said, out of the blue. 

Harley’s eyes shot up to meet Peter’s. That was a mistake, as he got lost in the brown doe eyes he’d spent so long dreaming about. “About what?” Harley almost choked out the words.

“About us. About the last two years. I could hear some of what Dr. Banner was saying to you. I want to hear things, I want to remember.” He frowned. "I want to stop hurting you so much because of what I don't remember."

Harley took a deep breath. He knew this was the best way to fix things, but how could he sit there and talk about memories to someone who didn’t remember them? He would have to spill every single moment they ever shared and watch as Peter stared at him with empty eyes. Apparently memories seem more sour when the person you shared them with can’t reminisce in them with you. Still, he needed to do this. It was his fault that Peter got hurt, and damn it if he wouldn’t break his own heart into pieces just so he could fill up Peter’s missing spaces. 

“Follow me.” Harley held out his hand to Peter. He frowned as he watched Peter ignore it and move away. Of course it was too forward of him to do that. He got up and walked into his room next door. “This is my room.” He spun around to face Peter, only to find Peter frozen, looking at the ceiling. “Peter?” Harley could feel the panic rising up his throat. “Peter!”

Peter shook his head, his eyes darting around the room. “I sleep here.”

Harley took a sharp breath. Was Peter starting to remember? “Yeah you do, have done since over a year ago. A couple weeks after we started dating, you came in here, said you wanted company for the nightmares. You never left.” Harley had gotten used to another body in his bed. He was going to be sleeping alone tonight. 

“I- I remember waking up from a nightmare. I remember you here, wiping away my tears. I- I remember us kissing.” Peter looked like he was concentrating. “I- I can’t remember anything else.” He slumps back and sighs. “I’m sorry.”

Harley tried not to let the disappointment show on his face. At least this was progress. He wouldn’t stand for Peter to feel like he wasn’t doing enough. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. Did you get anything while you were in your room?”

Peter pointedly ignored the first statement. “Uh, yeah. I remembered being in there with May after she said we were moving into the tower. It made a little more sense after that why we seemed so comfortable here. Last I remember, she still couldn’t talk to Mr. Stark for more than 10 minutes.” He sat down on the bed. “Everything seems so different.”

Harley sat down on the bed next to him. “I’m sorry.”

Peter’s head shot up. “For what?”

“For not protecting you from that explosion.” Harley couldn’t look at Peter’s face.

Peter scoffed. “I don’t know what’s changed, but I do know this. I only ever get hurt from my decisions. Maybe I was trying to protect someone, maybe I thought I could handle it by myself, I don’t know. What I do know is, it isn’t your fault.”

“I was there with you, I should have seen it coming.”

Peter cupped Harley’s face in his hands, pulling him up to look him in the eyes. “You say we’re dating. That means you trust me. Trust me when I say, there is no way this could be your fault.” He dropped his hand. “I- I don’t know what I did to find someone who looks at me the way you do, and it- it almost terrifies me that someone is so in love with me when I can barely remember anything about them, but in my heart I feel like I know you. And I know that you would do anything in your power to keep me safe. This. Isn’t. Your. Fault. Please believe me.”

Harley felt a tear run down his cheek. Even without his memories, it was sweet, kind, beautiful Peter comforting him. Harley couldn’t believe he got so incredibly lucky that this angel of a human being fell in love with him. He wiped away his tears. “Ok. I believe you. Doesn’t mean I’m going to do any less to help you get your memories back.” He held out his hand, and this time Peter took it. “Next up, is the lab.” Harley tried to hide his grin as Peter grabbed his hand, but from the shy smile on the brunette's face, he was unsuccessful. 

Soon enough, they wound up in the lab. Peter sat down at his lab bench. The lab had gone through a couple upgrades in the last two years, but it mostly looked the same. Peter was in the same place. He looked around, seemingly searching out anything that would trigger a memory. Harley sat down at his own bench, trying to hide his own hope that Peter would find something. The slowly deepening look of disappointment etched on Peter’s face destroyed that hope. “I got nothing new.”

“That’s ok. Bruce said it would take time. You’ll get it back within a few days, this was just to try and make it faster.”

“But I want to get my memory back faster. I want to remember you.” 

Harley froze at the words. They were just another reminder that this was still his Peter, but that only made him hurt more at the fact that Peter didn’t think the same of him. “And you will. But you can’t get upset with yourself for taking time to heal.”

Peter nodded unwillingly, not agreeing with Harley’s statement, but not wanting to continue the argument.

Harley was starting to get the feeling that he would be closely acquainted with disappointment and longing before this was over. He started going over things to say, what he could do to help, when May came running into the room. “Peter!”

Peter jumped up to his feet and went over to her. She pulled him into a tight hug. “Ah, May, it hurts.”

She loosened her grip. “Sorry. How are you feeling sweetie?”

He sat back down on his bench and she sat down next to him. “I feel a little sore everywhere, but it’s not too bad. I just- I can’t remember anything. It’s rough. “Oh sweetie. I’m sorry. Hopefully it will get better soon.” She pulled him into another hug. “Now, come on. Go to the dinning hall. Pepper and Tony are already there. We’ll meet you.” She looked over at Harley.

Peter just nodded and walked out of the room. May walked over to Harley. “How are you holding up?”

He looked up at her. “Why are you asking me? Peter’s the one that got hurt.”

“And you’re the one who has to watch the boy you love walk around like he doesn’t know you.”

Harley tried to shrug it off. “It’s not any different from the rest of you.”

May gave him a sympathetic look. “He already knew us two years ago. He didn’t know you. It’s different, and I know you’re hurting, and it’s ok.”

He looked over at her and she pulled him into an embrace. “It’ll be ok. He’ll be ok, and so will you.”

He just whispered, so quietly he could barely hear the thought in his own head. “I hope so.”

* * *

They walked into the dinning room to see Pepper, Tony, and Peter waiting for them. Pepper was talking to Peter. Tony had a sad smile on his face, a far too common facial expression in this household today, Harley thought bitterly. 

“Thank you for the food Ms. Potts.”

Pepper just put a hand on his shoulder. “You haven’t called me Ms. Potts in years. Call me Pepper.”

“Uh, ok. Thank you Ms. Pepper.” She smiled at him, before moving to set the rest of the plate. Harley and May sat down, and they all began to eat. 

Dinner was a quiet affair. Nobody wanted to address the elephant in the room. Harley watched Peter take occasional looks around the room, as though he was surveying everyone, trying to figure out what was different and what was the same. He saw Peter looking at him most of all. 

Soon enough, Peter had gotten up and excused himself. “I think I’m going to go to bed early. Maybe some sleep will help.”

Tony just nodded. “Of course. You need the rest for your injuries too.”

They all watched as Peter walked out of the room. Harley quickly finished eating and excused himself as well. He tried not to pay attention to the pitying glances he got from the others as he walked out. 

On the way to his room, he stopped in front of Peter’s. The door was cracked open and he couldn’t help but peer inside. He gently eased the door open and saw Peter lying on the bed in his Hello Kitty pants and I Love NYC t-shirt. Peter had always told him they were comfort clothing. Apparently the lack of 2 years didn’t change that. 

He closed the door again and got ready for bed. Soon enough he found himself lying flat on his back, looking up at the ceiling. He couldn’t fall asleep anymore without Peter in his arms. He just felt like something was missing. Like all of the life in the room had been sucked out. He didn’t know how long he sat there, staring at the blank navy blue walls until sleep finally overtook him.

* * *

Things weren’t any better the next day. Harley got up first thing in the morning to an empty bed. He opened his mouth to call out for Peter before the events of the previous day came crashing down on him. Instead he just got out of bed and got ready for the day.

He walked into the kitchen to see Tony, Pepper, and Bruce talking around the counter. Harley cleared his throat and they all turned to face him. “Where’s Peter?”

They all exchanged a look. “He went down to train. Hopefully he’ll be up in a few minutes. None of us have seen him so far”

Harley just nodded and sat down at the counter. Pepper looked ready to go downstairs for work any minute. She placed some toast in front of him and he gave her an appreciative smile. “Now, what were you talking about before I walked in?”

“Nothing.” Bruce and Tony said almost in unison. They threw each other a look before turning back to Harley.

“Ok, now I’m sure you were talkin’ about me. Spill.”

Tony tentatively began to speak. “We’re worried about you kid. That’s all. We’re worried about how you’re coping. You and Peter were so close.”

Harley almost slammed the plate into the counter. “Maybe stop worrying about me and worry about him. He’s the one missing almost 2 years of his life.”

Bruce put a hand on Harley’s shoulder. “We’re trying but it's a slow process. I’ll check him out when he comes back up. I was doing more research on this, and usually the first few increments of time are slow. After that, it’s exponential. The patient starts picking up memory more rapidly. If he has anywhere near a quarter of his memory back, then hopefully the rest will follow soon. Considering what Tony told me yesterday, he could even get his memory back in a day or two. I think tomorrow morning might even be enough.”

The elevator doors ringed and Peter stepped out. Everybody turned to look at him. He looked tired, his face was slack and his eyes still didn’t have that recognition that Harley always found himself searching for. 

Pepper walked towards him and pulled him into a hug. “Good morning Peter. How are you feeling?” Peter stiffened in the hug and Harley could tell he was getting another memory. He came to the edge of his seat, waiting for what he might remember now. Slowly Peter relaxed into the hug. After Pepper pulled away, she pressed a kiss on his forehead. “Your breakfast is on the table sweetie. Have a nice day boys. ”

“You too Pepper.” Peter waved as she walked into the elevator. He turned back to face the counter and Harley saw him get more tense. He sat down and slowly began to eat.

Bruce came up to Peter. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

Peter took a deep breath. “To be honest, I feel really disoriented. Stuff keeps coming back to me in bits and pieces and I don’t know how to make sense of things anymore.”

“That’s normal. It means you’re getting better. What do you remember so far, and where did you remember them?”

Harley tried to look nonchalant, masking his eagerness to hear any hope that Peter remembered who he was.

“Yesterday in my room I remembered May telling me we were moving here. I remember the actual moving process and some stuff about me getting closer to Mr. Star- Tony. I remembered that first time I called him Tony.”

Bruce just nodded, prompting Peter to continue. “In Harley’s room I remembered some stuff too. Waking up from nightmares and stuff.” His cheeks flushed red and Harley knew there was more to it than that. It was after that memory that Peter was finally willing to hold his hand. Harley reached under the table and grabbed Peter’s hand. Luckily, he grabbed it back, squeezing his hand. “When I got up this morning, I remembered more stuff about May. It was like some conversations and things about her room and stuff. When I got downstairs I remembered Tony teaching me and Harley how to fight. And just now, when Pepper gave me a hug, I remembered some things about her. I feel like I remember more about specific moments with people, but not the little things. Things happened but I don’t know why they happened or what led up to them.”

Harley sat there, listening to everything that was happening. Slowly, he started to plan out a trip, a way to hopefully get Peter’s memory back.

“That’s good Peter. That’s a lot. I know it’s disorienting, but it’s going to get better. From the way it sounds, you should keep picking stuff up over the day, and hopefully get everything back by tomorrow morning.” Peter let out a relieved sigh. Harley couldn’t help but join him. Maybe they were going to make it out ok. 

“Thanks Dr. Banner.” Bruce just smiled before getting up and going down to his lab. 

Tony got up as well and clapped a hand on both of their shoulders. “Well, Pepper has roped me into several meetings today, so I’m sorry I can’t be with both of you, but I’m sure you can find things to do, hopefully jog your memory more. I’ll see you for dinner.” Tony walked into the elevator as well, leaving Peter and Harley alone.

Both of them sat there looking at each other. Suddenly, Peter pulled his hand away, as if just realizing it was there. “I- uh.”

“I’m sorry. I should have realized you wouldn’t be comfortable with that.” Harley tried to apologize, realizing what it would be like to Peter.

He flushed red again. “No, no, it’s fine. It feels like- like home, like it’s normal. I just- I- you look at me and you see someone else. Someone that I’m not. And I only remember bits and pieces of you. It’s all of the intimacy but none of the relationship.”

Harley’s face dropped. “Don’t say that. I see you. I don’t see anyone but you. I don’t care if it’s you from two years ago or you from now. You are still the amazing, sweet, selfless, wonderful person I have come to love. I’m sorry if I make you uncomfortable.”

Peter didn’t respond. Instead he just grabbed Harley’s hand again and smiled. Harley got the message. “Well then, I have a little trip planned for us, hopefully, we will be able to jog your memory. 

They spent the rest of the day going to all of the places they had dates, visiting the school, and different people’s houses. Harley watched as Peter slowly, piece by piece picked up memories of his friends, his enemies, his family, and Harley. With each memory, Harley felt his heart grow lighter and he watched as Peter started to smile a little more, hold him a little closer. Maybe they would be ok.

* * *

By dinner, Peter deemed that he had regained at least half of his memory. That night, the table had an extra setting for Bruce, and over the dinner table, Peter began to relay what he had remembered.

Bruce just smiled. “I’m glad you’re recalling all of this so quickly. I would have to assume it’s something to do with how badly you want to remember combined with your enhanced healing. I predict you’ll have your memory back by tomorrow morning.”

Harley didn’t even bother to hide his sigh of relief. He leaned under the table and grabbed Peter’s hand again. 

Later that night, both of them found themselves in Peter’s room. For all that Peter remembered, there was still so much that he didn’t and all of the missing memories seemed to add extra inches between them. They were just sitting there, as Harley was telling Peter a story about something they had done almost a year back, when Peter interrupted. “I- I know that normally we both sleep in your room but-”

“You don’t want to today.” Logically, Harley had expected this. Peter remembered them kissing and going on dates, but he still didn’t have everything, and Harley didn’t know if he could ever trust anyone he didn’t have all the facts about, so it’s obvious that Peter would feel the same. Still, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it's just- I hold hands with you now because I feel like I trust you and I know that we used to. But everything else else is still such a blank space. I don’t want to do something that at this point I wouldn’t feel comfortable with.”

Harley got off the bed. “Of course. I don’t want to push you.”

Peter tried to get up, scrambling after Harley. “No, it’s not like that- I just- I-” Harley watched as Peter struggled and failed to finish the sentence. “You don’t need to leave.”

“But I should. And you should sleep. Good night Peter.” Harley walked out of the room and into his own, preparing for another lonely night.

* * *

A small shuffle woke Harley up. He looked over at his clock to see that it was two in the morning. He wiped his eyes of sleep and tried to adjust to the darkness. In the doorway he saw Peter. “Darlin’? What’s wrong?” Harley tried to understand why Peter was out of bed in the first place, before the events of the previous day hit him. “I’m sorry, Peter, what’s wrong?”

Peter just shuffled forward. “I had a nightmare. I was wondering if I could join you.”

Harley tried not to show just how much hope those words gave him. “Of course. C’mon.” Sometime in the middle of the night Harley had shifted back onto his side of the bed, so Peter’s side was clear and open.

Peter gingerly laid down next to Harley. They weren’t touching anywhere and Harley definitely wasn’t going to do anything to make Peter uncomfortable, but it was hurting him to be so close and yet so far away. Instead he just turned to his side and tried to go back to sleep.

“I remembered some more stuff.” Peter said casually. Harley turned around. Peter was looking up at the ceiling. “I remembered some of the battle’s we’ve fought over the years. They featured in my nightmares. I remembered curling up next to you after them. Sometimes in this bed, sometimes on the couch after a movie, sometimes in my room. Everything feels so haphazard, like my memories are a jigsaw puzzle and someone threw out half of the pieces.”

Harley just reached out for Peter’s hand. “I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. I promise you it will all be ok.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do. Not even a few hours ago you sat here and told me to trust you. Now I’m telling you to trust me. It will be ok.”

Harley heard Peter take a deep breath. “Ok.” Harley just nodded and started to turn again before being stopped. “Wait.” Harley looked at Peter. “Could you… hold me? I don’t want to sleep alone.”

Harley froze. Could he do this? Hold Peter like nothing was wrong when things just weren’t the same? He opened his arms and Peter practically barreled into them. Harley curled into the touch and pulled Peter further into his arms. “Goodnight darlin’.”

“Goodnight princess.” Peter fell asleep quickly afterwards, leaving Harley smiling in the darkness at the familiar nickname. Sleep soon claimed him as well.

* * *

The next morning Harley woke up to the sound of shifting sheets. Peter was beside him, already awake and looking at him.

“Peter?”

“Good morning. I- I remember a lot more but I still feel like there’s something missing. Something about you.” Harley recognized the tone in his voice.

“I feel like you have a solution to that.”

Peter blushed. “I do. I got most of my memories of people by hugging them and holding their hand. That worked for you somewhat but I thought maybe it would work a little more with you.”

“What are you implying?” Harley’s mind was racing at what Peter could potentially be saying.

“I- I was wondering if I could kiss you?”

Harley wanted nothing more to say yes, but he didn’t want to push Peter into something when he wasn’t in the same place as Harley anymore. Harley almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. It was almost deja vu for their first kiss. “If you’re sure about it.”

“I am.” Peter just nodded. “I might not remember all of you, but I’ve been falling in love with you anyway, so I guess this is just our second first kiss.”

The admission left Harley blushing. “Second first kiss it is.” He leaned in slowly and pressed his lips to Peter’s. Peter froze for a second, before reciprocating, slowly deepening the kiss. 

When they finally pulled away, Peter just smiled at Harley. “Hello princess.”

“Sweetheart?” He looked at Peter in hope.

Peter just smiled at him. “I remember everything again.”

Harley smirked. “Looks like your plan worked.”

Peter matched Harley’s expression. “Hmm, maybe we should do it again, just to make sure.” He pulled Harley into another kiss and this time, Harley had no reservations about following through.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to join a discord server and talk to more amazing people who love Parkner go here: https://discord.gg/cRkmzWR  
> Talk to me on tumblr @lilacsandlilies4  
> or on discord @LilacsAndLilies

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [moodboard for "you look like yourself, but you're somebody else" by LilacsAndLilies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23972161) by [wanda maximoff (statuesquue)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/statuesquue/pseuds/wanda%20maximoff)




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